Fund Me, KC: My Bear Jeff spreads comfort to child trauma survivors, bear to bear
December 5, 2019 | Startland News Staff
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Rachel Cohen with her My Bear Jeff campaign — to share their crowdfunding stories to gain a little help from their supporters.
Rachel Cohen, My Bear Jeff
Who are you?
Rachel Cohen, Chief Bear Officer at My Bear Jeff. I’m passionate about people, companies and movements that drive to create impact and positive change to everyone around us.
What is My Bear Jeff?
My Bear Jeff is a buy one, give one teddy bear company to support kids dealing with trauma. Every time a bear is purchased, its twin is delivered to a qualifying child through our nonprofit partners.
Click here for the My Bear Jeff Kickstarter page.
What’s your ‘why’?
I created this company from the intersection of several personal experiences. The first being a rare heart diagnosis at the age of 4 and recovering from a high-risk procedure that could have cost my life. The second came from my time in Southeast Asia working with children who were dealing with extreme trauma every day. I returned home with a pure, burning desire to support these kids.
My Bear Jeff
How much do you hope to raise with the crowdfunding campaign?
What do you plan to use the funds for?
To place our first production order of 2,500 bears.
How are you differentiating your campaign?
While the product has some uniqueness to it, the mission is unique. For each bear purchased, one will be donated to a nonprofit partner working with kids who deal with trauma.
My Bear Jeff
Is there anything quirky with your campaign?
Nothing super quirky about it unless you consider teddy bears quirky?
What’s some advice you have to others launching a crowdfunding campaign?
Tell all your friends, do lots of research, find where the real/raw pain is, hone in on exactly what your business is/what you’re selling and make it clear and concise.
If you or your startup is running a crowdfunding campaign, let us know by contacting news@startlandnews.com
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
New industry-specific LaunchKC accelerators expected to bring more dollars, winners
Applications for this year’s LaunchKC program are going vertical, said Drew Solomon, announcing plans for three industry-specific accelerators — two of which will launch new funding-rich demo days in the fall. “We’ve always wanted to grow and expand not only the competition, but the program as a whole,” said Solomon, chair of the LaunchKC program.…
WATCH: Faces of KC entrepreneurship find strength in numbers, community resources
A new video from KCSourceLink highlights the faces of Kansas City entrepreneurship — featuring makers, innovators, tech founders and social entrepreneurs — and their connection to the resource network and ecosystem infrastructure in Kansas City. “It takes very special people to be able to put everything on the line,” says Reggie Gray, executive director of Black…
We Create KC report: Half of top VC-backed companies tapped early-stage support
In 2018, 50 percent of the top venture capital-funded companies in Kansas City got their start with early-stage investment programs that emerged after 2012, according to We Create KC 2019, KCSourceLink’s sixth annual state of entrepreneurship report. “That high percentage shows us how important these early-stage investment programs are to our entrepreneurs and our ecosystem,”…
KCultivator Q&A: Jonathan Bender boils down his talents to curate KC food scene
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. He’s mastered the art of pairing the perfect cookie with the crispest…